My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicide

They couldnt care less about the mentally ill in our society. They constantly cut support and services for them. And yet they make it illegal for them to even try to take their lives. Either give them decent help, or don't make it illegal for them to...... even try to die.

I understand the argument that if it were legal for the mentally ill, or those who are hurting the most to attempt suicide, then there would be no legal means by which to get help for them once they either attempt or announce to the wrong person that they are considering it. But I have known peoiple who could not get decent help and care no matter how much they tried to reach out and seek it. No matter how hard they tried, decent help was not available because they did not have the financial means. But when they tried to take their life, then the laws said no. Sorry you cant do this. What about laws to give decent quality help to those in need. So people do not get to the point of hopelesness and despair? And while I said "my government" I know people from 2 other countries who have experienced the same thing.

Perhaps then the question is, what is wrong with society? Is it society that is ill? A general sickness of ignoring those amongst us who are in need? Society turning its back on those who are most vulnerable? I am not trying to elicit angry responses here. And If this sounds like a rant, then I am sorry. It is not intended as such. It is a very sad situation. And I am feeling hurt about it. Hurt that I personally was getting help, until I lost that help when I got on disability. I became a fiscal liability. Part of an entiitlement program that has to be reduced. I have to pay 50% of a psychiatrist fee. This is the decuctable. And I am on psychiatric disability. Needless to say, I do not often go to a pdoc. Each time I go, I end up paying a significant percentage of my disabillity money on co-payment. So I can rarely go.

And then finding a good therapist.... medicare does not allow regular psychotherapists to become participaing providers. And yet it is illegal to suicide. But legal to ignore the needs of people.

Re: My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicid

Hi Flowers, I am saddened to hear that about your country.

There remains a long road ahead for the mental illness perception in world society. Thankfully, in the U.S., we have half way decent attention and care. Some recent HUGE funding (in the billions of dollars) is going toward strengthening the mental health care in America. ABUSE to avoid working or to gain medications accounts for a great amount of deification of funding, unfortunately, and I wish they'd address that as a priority issue! For those who need services, though, I think the recent funding influx in the U.S. is really going to make a lot of difference. Perhaps other countries will follow suit.

Re: My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicid

Flowers, thank you for illustrating how budget cuts in the US are effecting your ability to get even inadequate help and no sustained support. Here in the UK mental Heath services have always been called the Cinderella of the NHS, our national free at the point of use health care system. Budget cuts under the guise of clinical excellence and research based care seems only to support exceedingly brief sessions of treatment or therapy. The closure of the large psychiatric hospitals was also used to save money rather than provide a better service. The day treatment services to replace them never had the capacity to treat even the same number. You're braver than I Flowers, I usually avoid reading and thinking about it.

Re: My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicid

Hi Pickwithaustin. I too live in the US My personal experience of the mental health care here was okay until I got on medicare. Then I saw a different side of it. But I guess its all what perspecitve one is seeing through. Mine experience of it is so different from yours.

Theo, I have noticed that too many people in the UK who I have spoken with have had a hard time being taken seriously when they ask for help. They are turned away without being helped. That was my own personal observation. Proper care for psychological and psychiatriactic issues is shameful in way too many countries. you wrote about brief sessions of treatiment. In the US we are moving toward much shorter apointment times. Some Psychatrists and other practitioners see patirnts for 15 minutes or 20 minutes. It is becoming more common and acceptable. So I know how odd that aspect of it is.

Re: My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicid

Theo, I have noticed that too many people in the UK who I have spoken with have had a hard time being taken seriously when they ask for help. They are turned away without being helped. That was my own personal observation. Proper care for psychological and psychiatriactic issues is shameful in way too many countries. you wrote about brief sessions of treatiment. In the US we are moving toward much shorter apointment times. Some Psychatrists and other practitioners see patirnts for 15 minutes or 20 minutes. It is becoming more common and acceptable. So I know how odd that aspect of it is.

flowers, i am from the UK and i could write about a thousand threads on the subject of how angry i am with the mental health care system over here

i agree, it does take a lot to be taken seriously- and it does outrage me

i remember the first time i actually attempted, the team were like... ah well, you know- that's okay.. it's just a phase

and i'm thinking to myself.. their's people every day who are being placed under the care of the mental health team, and this is how they are being treated?

questions always run through my mind... like, say out of 50 people who see the mental health team, how many of those 50 are actually turned away?

it really makes me angry- that still after all these years, i get treated almost like i don't exist by them

flowers, i am from the UK and i could write about a thousand threads on the subject of how angry i am with the mental health care system over here

i agree, it does take a lot to be taken seriously- and it does outrage me

i remember the first time i actually attempted, the team were like... ah well, you know- that's okay.. it's just a phase

and i'm thinking to myself.. their's people every day who are being placed under the care of the mental health team, and this is how they are being treated?

questions always run through my mind... like, say out of 50 people who see the mental health team, how many of those 50 are actually turned away?

it really makes me angry- that still after all these years, i get treated almost like i don't exist by them

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yes, I hear ya. I really have noticed it. And it is horrible. Disgraceful. And dangerous. The whole "stiff upper lip" sort of thinking cant work for mental illness. It just cant. It doesnt . I have heard of too many instances in the UK where people who reach out for help in the UK are just sent home with nothing. And that can be so humiliating or defeating that people do not try again. It takes a lot to reach out for help when someone is really hurting or in crisis. Often even if someone is referred, it takes a long time for them to get an appointment with a counseller. A long wait at a time when some cannot wait.

Theo, I have noticed that too many people in the UK who I have spoken with have had a hard time being taken seriously when they ask for help. They are turned away without being helped. That was my own personal observation. Proper care for psychological and psychiatriactic issues is shameful in way too many countries. you wrote about brief sessions of treatiment. In the US we are moving toward much shorter apointment times. Some Psychatrists and other practitioners see patirnts for 15 minutes or 20 minutes. It is becoming more common and acceptable. So I know how odd that aspect of it is.

flowers, i am from the UK and i could write about a thousand threads on the subject of how angry i am with the mental health care system over here

i agree, it does take a lot to be taken seriously- and it does outrage me

i remember the first time i actually attempted, the team were like... ah well, you know- that's okay.. it's just a phase

and i'm thinking to myself.. their's people every day who are being placed under the care of the mental health team, and this is how they are being treated?

questions always run through my mind... like, say out of 50 people who see the mental health team, how many of those 50 are actually turned away?

it really makes me angry- that still after all these years, i get treated almost like i don't exist by them

Click to expand...

I too have received shocking mental health care over the years. When I was 15, I finally had the courage to tell my parents about my self harming and depression. Together we went to see the GP. He listened to what we had to say, nodding and writing things on the computer. He then replies with "It's okay, it's one of those teenage phases, you will grow out of it". Needless to say less than a month later I was rushed to hospital after a serious suicide attempt to end my life, which almost ended up in me being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. I was under the care of CAMHS for a while, and I have to say, I received excellent care from them and have got no complaints. But it didn't have to end up the way it did.

When I was 20, I ended up back in the system, only this time as an adult. While my GP support has been excellent, the psychiatric services I have received have been diabolical. I presented in A&E feeling suicidal and I did not feel safe. The mental health liaison nurse listened, but it seemed like he was only hearing what he wanted to hear. He blamed everything on my past, but not listening to what I was saying about the present. He said he was not concerned, but did refer me on to get some therapy. Months passed and I had not heard anything until I got a letter in the post saying I had an appointment wih a CPN, which I felt was strange as I had been referred to counselling. So I had the appointment with the CPN, it turns out the therapy service rejected the referral because they deemed me as too much of a high risk for therapy, which does not make any sense at all, which was why I had been referred to the CPN. So I guess it was something, but it would have been nice to have kept me in the loop seeing as it is MY care. Although I found the weekly appts with the CPN somewhat helpful, I was still declining in mental health. My CPN was useless as times, not turning up for his own appointments and just going through the same stuff and not really listening. Eventually, he decided to urgently refer me to see a psychiatrist as my mental health had declined so much he thought I needed intervention. So I see the psychiatrist, who did not even ask me if I was suicidal and he comes to some bullshit conclusion. He did not listen to a single word I said. Promptly my CPN discharges me from his services and I tehn had to go from weekly appointments, to 3 monthly appointments with the psychiatrist. I struggled, really struggled. During this time, I had made some suicide attempts with the intent of ending my life. When I told my psychiatrist about it, she was like "Oh, that is not good. Here, go get some blood tests to make sure you do not have any permanent damage!" Did not address the issue at all. Then I had a couple of months pass and I got my next appointment through and I had to cancel it because I could not make the appointment. I rang the secretary to re arrange and she said she did not have any appointments on the days I could make. I said that was okay, I don't mind waiting for another month or so and she said she would issue me with another appointment in the post. This never happened. Months went by and I was getting worse and it got to the point where I felt I could not receive help because I knew I wouldn't be. It triggered me, just thinking about going to see a doctor to talk about it. It was a vicious circle and I ended up getting worse and worse. Eventually, I went back to my GP and said I really needed some immediate help because I was not safe and I could not live like I could any longer. She referred me to the crisis team and my mind was at ease. she said they would see me that night, then it ended up being the next day. I spoke to the woman from the crisis team. She asked me how how I felt. I said I felt awful and still felt unsafe, but had been distracted because I had been to work, but I was worried about the rest of the afternoon because that is when the feelings got worse. She said she was discharging me with absolutely no follow up care except to my psychiatrist to tell her crisis had been involved and the reason was "You have still been functioning enough to go to work, you are not suicidal enough". This being with several overdoses and swallowing of dangerous objects for the past couple of months and actively planning to take my life yet I was not deemed suicidal enough, because I went to work!!!!! I had really heard it all and I lost hope.

Luckily, my GP was supportive, gave my psychiatrist a good bollocking. I got back on my proper meds but that was about it. I was fed up so I paid privately for therapy. I am now on a plateau, trying to build my life back up. It is clear that mental health services are not bothered about me, and I have had to recover and treat myself in order for things to improve. But it should not be like that. They failed me in my times of need and if I hadn't had family locking me in my room, I probably would have gone out and killed myself.

Re: My Govt. doesnt care about mentally ill. But makes it illegal for them to suicid

Butterfly, I am so sorry to hear in greater detail about your experience of the appalling lack of services. Twenty years ago quality and type of provision varied drastically. It did not occur to me then that the situation would get worse. It appears that little or no serious, joined up, long term care is now available. I understand now why the private therapy market has boomed.

yes, I hear ya. I really have noticed it. And it is horrible. Disgraceful. And dangerous. The whole "stiff upper lip" sort of thinking cant work for mental illness. It just cant. It doesnt . I have heard of too many instances in the UK where people who reach out for help in the UK are just sent home with nothing. And that can be so humiliating or defeating that people do not try again. It takes a lot to reach out for help when someone is really hurting or in crisis. Often even if someone is referred, it takes a long time for them to get an appointment with a counseller. A long wait at a time when some cannot wait.

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sometimes, i see it as a quick conveyor belt- they take someone in, listen to them, say something like... ah well, their's meds and stuff you can try (without really getting to the problem) so they don't know what meds to try, send them out- then they are instantly put on the back burner and their attention focusses on someone else

the only chance round here to be taken seriously is when it's too late, and something tragic has actually happened.. resulting in the team having no choice- and even then they treat you like some kind of invisible force